The Influence of Undergoround Water on Rock Mass Behaviour During Tunnelling

The main research hypothesis is that the initial swelling rock desiccation increases the swelling effects. This hypothesis has been confirmed by numerous in situ end laboratory testing. The introduction of various swelling laws, depending on the desaturation level, results in a new characteristic rock curve which is nonlinear in the semilogarithmic scale. Also, an original method for protecting saturated swelling rock samples during transport, storage and preparation is proposed.